Wii balance board benefits?

[emorymom]

We are getting a Wii for the first time for Christmas ... bought it off Craigslist in a bundle with g'parents and us all contributing. Very exciting!

My question is ... does anyone have any thoughts on using the balance board, which is part of the bundle, to my L2 gymmie's advantage? It would not occur to me except that on of my friends whose daughter has very bad vestibular problems was advised by her doctors 2 years ago to buy a Wii Fit and use the balance board.

Obviously my daughter does not have a vestibular disorder, but compared to other pre-team / team type girls her age, balance and general body orientation is not her strong point and it has taken her a lot of time and work to get a decent cartwheel and handstand, and she's wobbly.

If you do think it can be beneficial in providing ... biofeedback? ... to the nervous system, what games do I want to make sure we have?

I don't know much about the wii but am very excited about using the Wii Fit myself and having my kids use the drums!

 

[Terpsikhore]

I'm far from an expert, but I have to say the yoga exercises on the Wii Fit have done wonders for my balance. The thing I liked most about the Wii Fit was that you can see your centre of gravity shifting on screen, so it's easier to see if you're cheating the exercise by using really bad form to compensate for your balance being way off. For example, I could hold the 'tree' pose for minutes at a time by rolling onto the outer edge of my foot and curving my body. Doing it on the Wii Fit, which tells you when you're swaying or leaning too far to one side, I could barely manage 10 seconds at first!

 

[BlairBob]

Better than sitting on their butt.

I'm sure the yoga is far better for their coordination and body awareness than the wobble board ever will be.